The campsite is his territory: the SPD member of the Bundestag, Johannes Fechner, sleeps in a tent during the session weeks in Berlin – at least in the summer.
The Bundestag is currently on its summer break. For Johannes Fechner this means sleeping in a real bed. Actually a matter of course for a member of the Bundestag, one would think. But it’s different with the SPD man. STERN PAID 28_23 Nico Fried Scholz Minimum wage 16.10
Fechner has been a member of the Bundestag for almost ten years. In 2019, he decided to take a radical step: During the week of meetings in the capital, he camped at a campsite. The parliamentarian from the constituency of Emmendingen-Lahr (Baden-Württemberg) does not need a hotel room or even his own official apartment. Instead, he prefers to sleep in a tent.
SPD parliamentarian Johannes Fechner stayed at the campsite
Fechner finds that “relaxed”, as he told the “BZ”: “Right on the water, in the fresh air. I sleep more deeply here, it’s good to get out of the government district bubble and into the countryside.” The camping season started for him in May this year. On the first night it was “still a bit cool at 6 degrees”, but Fechner enthused on Instagram: “The morning mood on the water is just great.”
Of course, the Member of Parliament also saves on the rent for an apartment or hotel room at the campsite. Although it shouldn’t really fail because of the money: the monthly allowances of the parliamentarians amount to more than 10,000 euros. In addition, there is a monthly tax-free allowance of more than 4700 euros, which is used, among other things, to finance accommodation in the capital. Fechner only pays 72 euros for his campsite. FS 40 years of the Greens in the Bundestag
Fechner sleeps 80 nights a year in Berlin
According to “BZ”, he sets up and takes down his pop-up tent in a matter of minutes, and he changes clothes in the Bundestag. It is only in winter that Johannes Fechner, who has been parliamentary manager and legal counsel for his parliamentary group since this legislative period, gets too uncomfortable in the camping tent. Then he rents a heated log cabin or a cheap hotel.
“I only sleep here 80 nights a year, so I don’t need an apartment that someone else needs more,” explains the convinced camper. The campsite also gives him the opportunity to “talk to normal people” – including about politics. But he usually keeps the fact that he is a member of the Bundestag to himself: “No one would believe that anyway.”
Sources: “BZ” / Johannes Fechner on Instagram / German Bundestag